Slow day and some things are even larger than financial circumstances:
My great grandson, age 7, is at that age where he is questioning Santa and came to me for my input as many of his friends were telling him Santa wasn't real. As we sat and had a mug of hot cider and some Christmas cookies, I first asked him if he believed in God. He said yes so I asked if he had ever seen him. He replied no. I continued this line of questioning to include angels, Heaven, and life after death. He said yes to all. I slowly nodded my head an said I felt the same way and I also included Santa into this list who I believed in but had never seen. I then said that we both were very lucky for we had what many sadly lacked, Belief, and this was one of the greatest gifts one could attain. We didn't need physical proof of things, our hearts told us what to believe. We would never see the real Santa, God, Angels, or other heavenly spirits but for us we didn't need to see them. I let him in on my secret as to who Santa was, one that I hadn't heard anyone else ever mention, and that was that Santa was the Angel of Christmas. As such, he was the Spirit of everything that was good in the world - that of family, goodwill towards all men, a love for one another, and that if we all followed his example this world could be the Garden of Eden God meant it to be. Santa was the embodiment of the good, no, the great, that each of us possesses and it was his job to try and get us all to work as hard as we could to become that person he knows we all could be. I told him that since he was a child, he didn't have the knowledge yet to be everything he would become, but his innocence was a goal he would be striving to retain even as an adult. He was too young to hate, too young to envy, too young to have wandered from the path God had planned for him if he would only follow his inner Angel, his conscience. This innocence is why children equate Christmas with gifts, for gifts to them are signs that they did something right and are a prize for good behavior. But as he grew older, he would realize that gifts were meaningless, especially those that were given not out of love but out of an expectation that it was a duty. Only as an adult would he finally realize that the true gifts of Christmas was the warmth inside that spoke of love, caring for others, and knowing that our God cared enough about us to sacrifice himself so that we may live for all eternity with him in Heaven. I let him know that I still carry Santa around in my heart every day and hope that one day I will prove to be worthy of being put on his good list, but in the meantime we must continually work to spread his goodness to all others with whom we come in contact. I told him he would get presents this year as his family was lucky enough to be able to provide him some and maybe Santa even had enough to get him something, but should times become rough and money short, he would always have his Mom, Dad, brother, the rest of his family including me and GG, and the knowledge that he too was carrying Santa around in his heart. I told him our job was to make sure Santa didn't ever leave our hearts and that we must do all we can by setting a good example to others that they could find happiness too if they only believed. The joy of Christmas that Santa brought would be his greatest joy in later life, not some stupid presents. He gave me a big smile, I am not sure if it was my story, the cider, or the cookies that caused it but I am pretty sure he will be thinking and believing in the Angel of Christmas, Santa, for many years to come.
My great grandson, age 7, is at that age where he is questioning Santa and came to me for my input as many of his friends were telling him Santa wasn't real. As we sat and had a mug of hot cider and some Christmas cookies, I first asked him if he believed in God. He said yes so I asked if he had ever seen him. He replied no. I continued this line of questioning to include angels, Heaven, and life after death. He said yes to all. I slowly nodded my head an said I felt the same way and I also included Santa into this list who I believed in but had never seen. I then said that we both were very lucky for we had what many sadly lacked, Belief, and this was one of the greatest gifts one could attain. We didn't need physical proof of things, our hearts told us what to believe. We would never see the real Santa, God, Angels, or other heavenly spirits but for us we didn't need to see them. I let him in on my secret as to who Santa was, one that I hadn't heard anyone else ever mention, and that was that Santa was the Angel of Christmas. As such, he was the Spirit of everything that was good in the world - that of family, goodwill towards all men, a love for one another, and that if we all followed his example this world could be the Garden of Eden God meant it to be. Santa was the embodiment of the good, no, the great, that each of us possesses and it was his job to try and get us all to work as hard as we could to become that person he knows we all could be. I told him that since he was a child, he didn't have the knowledge yet to be everything he would become, but his innocence was a goal he would be striving to retain even as an adult. He was too young to hate, too young to envy, too young to have wandered from the path God had planned for him if he would only follow his inner Angel, his conscience. This innocence is why children equate Christmas with gifts, for gifts to them are signs that they did something right and are a prize for good behavior. But as he grew older, he would realize that gifts were meaningless, especially those that were given not out of love but out of an expectation that it was a duty. Only as an adult would he finally realize that the true gifts of Christmas was the warmth inside that spoke of love, caring for others, and knowing that our God cared enough about us to sacrifice himself so that we may live for all eternity with him in Heaven. I let him know that I still carry Santa around in my heart every day and hope that one day I will prove to be worthy of being put on his good list, but in the meantime we must continually work to spread his goodness to all others with whom we come in contact. I told him he would get presents this year as his family was lucky enough to be able to provide him some and maybe Santa even had enough to get him something, but should times become rough and money short, he would always have his Mom, Dad, brother, the rest of his family including me and GG, and the knowledge that he too was carrying Santa around in his heart. I told him our job was to make sure Santa didn't ever leave our hearts and that we must do all we can by setting a good example to others that they could find happiness too if they only believed. The joy of Christmas that Santa brought would be his greatest joy in later life, not some stupid presents. He gave me a big smile, I am not sure if it was my story, the cider, or the cookies that caused it but I am pretty sure he will be thinking and believing in the Angel of Christmas, Santa, for many years to come.
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